1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to utility carts, and more particularly to a self-propelled pool service cart for transporting pool cleaning and service equipment, and an optional sulky for transporting a pool service technician.
2. Description of Related Art
Utility carts come in a wide variety of designs for use in countless applications. The present invention is primarily directed to pool carts particularly adapted for use by swimming pool service technicians. Swimming pool service technicians, also commonly referred to as “pool men”, clean pools and service major pool equipment such as pumps, motors, and filters. Pool service technicians commonly use simple push carts to transport pool service equipment, materials, and supplies while servicing swimming pools. Such material may include pool chemicals such as chlorine and muriatic acid, a telescopic pole with interchangeable brush and debris collection net heads, and a pool vacuum apparatus. As a result, the prior art discloses utility carts particularly adapted for use by swimming pool service technicians.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. DES. 253,638, issued to Killingsworth, discloses an ornamental design for a basic pool equipment cart. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,174, issued to Thiem et al. discloses a self-contained mobile pool cleaning apparatus for swimming pools that includes a self-contained pump and filter mounted on a hand wheeled utility cart. The apparatus disclosed by Thiem et al., however, is equipped with a unnecessary equipment, such as a 5800 GPH pump, a large (4.0 HP) motor for driving the pump, and a bank of cartridge filters for on-board filtering of the water. Due to the excessive weight accompanying said equipment, the card disclosed by Thiem is far to heavy for use by pool service technicians who often must transport the cart to and from approximately 20-30, or more, pools per day.
Since swimming pool service technicians typically clean between 20 to 30 pools per day, there has existed a demand for improvements in the design of pool service carts, equipment and accessories. One such advancement has been the development of battery powered pool cleaning vacuums that include an electrically driven impeller powered by a rechargeable battery to draw water through the vacuum, thereby eliminating the need for pumps and hoses while decreasing weight. An example of such a swimming pool vacuum is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,734, which discloses a submersible vacuum head formed of a housing having opposing symmetrical halves. A further advancement, includes forming the vacuum head housing from a single, vacuum molded piece. The use of such battery powered vacuums has increased greatly in recent years. In addition, pool service carts have been adapted for quick and easy mounting to the rear of a pick-up truck to allow for rapid deployment and stowage.
Despite such advancements, the swimming pool service technician must manually push the carts back and forth from the truck to the pool. The physical strain of having to manually propel the pool service cart is physically draining on the technician, and time consuming. Accordingly, there exists the need for an improved pool service cart for use by swimming pool technicians. In addition, there exists a need for a pool service cart that is self-propelled to reduce physical strain on the technician while increasing the speed with which the technician can travel between his truck and the swimming pool, and/or between customer locations. It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of the aforementioned problems and shortcomings of the prior art that the present invention is directed. In view of the pool service cart and methods of construction in existence at the time of the present invention, it was not obvious to those persons of ordinary skill in the pertinent art as to how the identified needs could be fulfilled in an advantageous manner. The instant invention addresses this unfulfilled need in the prior art by providing an improved, self-propelled pool service cart that overcomes the limitations and disadvantages present in the art.